Stranded tourists prepare to board their flight at Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, Aug 9, 2022. [Photo/VCG]
In Hainan province, a charter flight left Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, taking 125 tourists stranded by the island's latest outbreak back home to Xi'an in Shaanxi province, according to local authorities.
More return journey arrangements are being made for tourists who pass their health checks and who have been stranded on the island by the outbreak.
A system for handling applications for return tickets will be operational from Wednesday, according to a notice from the Hainan provincial COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control headquarters, which was issued on Tuesday afternoon.
The notice stated that tourists in areas that have not been affected can apply to leave the island upon producing two negative nucleic acid tests within 48 hours; while those in low-risk areas may resume their return journeys with the provision of three negative nucleic acid test results within 72 hours and screening to ensure they don't show symptoms of infection.
As of midnight on Sunday, there were 177,900 tourists in Hainan. Of them, some 57,000 are still in Sanya, with 43,000 confined to hotels, according to data from Hainan Provincial Health Commission.
As of noon on Tuesday, Hainan had registered 1,314 confirmed cases and 585 asymptomatic infections since the first case was reported in Sanya on Aug 1. The latest outbreak has affected 13 cities and counties across the island so far, according to the Hainan Provincial Health Commission.
"The current situation is complex and severe but the epidemic is developing at a slower speed," Li Wenxiu, deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Health Commission, told a news conference in Haikou on Tuesday afternoon. He said that the province is confident and will do all it can to overcome difficulties and ensure zero community transmission in the near future.
Overview
Haikou 
Sanya 
